Volunteer scientists setting out to educate people at grassroots

Teams of volunteer scientists will be dispatched across the country to offer advice to industries, dispel superstitions held by the public, and help educate children.

The China Association for Science and Technology said the teams will offer scientific and technological expertise in areas including basic research, commercialization of scientific results, consultation and poverty alleviation.

It is the first batch of volunteers - gathered from hundreds of science and technology associations and societies and individual scientists - to work at a grassroots level. A ceremony marking the launch of the nationwide services was held on Thursday in Beijing where representatives of volunteers were honored with flags by Wan Gang, chairman of the association, and Huai Jinpeng, its Party chief.

Lei Zhenmin, vice-president of the association in Weinan, Shaanxi province, is one of the volunteers who has already raised more than 1 million yuan ($145,000) for 122 local children to continue their education over the past 20 years. "We have organized volunteers to visit children in villages, especially children whose parents are working far from home, to offer them opportunities to touch robots, drones and model aircraft," he said.

Zhong Kai, a food safety expert from China Food Information Center, said, "Science communication and scientific research are equally important and equally difficult."

In addition to research, he has also been spreading food safety knowledge and combating pseudoscience about food safety on Chinese social media.

"My purpose of starting science communication is to get more good food technologies known and accepted by the public," he said. "Rumors can never be rooted out. As a science communicator I just hope everyone can develop critical and scientific thinking to enhance their ability to resist rumors."

According to the association, the volunteers will make field trips to local enterprises and industrial parks to assess the needs of researchers and entrepreneurs. They will then organize seminars and provide technology assessments and consultations on commercialization of products.

They are expected to play a broader role in communicating science to the public by countering rumors and superstitions in areas such as health services and emergency safety skills. The volunteers will also provide guidance for youth in science and technology activities.

They plan to visit rural areas to teach farmers skills, train rural scientific talent and introduce more practical technologies that can benefit agricultural production.

Organizations to participate in the launch include the Chinese Society for Composite Materials, the Chinese Nursing Association and the China Highway and Transportation Society.

A special campaign to raise farmers' science literacy as part of China's rural revitalization efforts also kicked off on Thursday at the ceremony. The campaign aims to form a basic framework for popularization of science in rural communities by 2020, the association said.